Holtzapffel? Congratulations on the construction! Lots of holes and clamping options.

I put only as many holes in my bench, which is a very different style from yours, as I figured I needed after considerable forethought. I was worried they might be annoying but haven’t found them to be so.

Good luck with the new bench.

Rob

I read this with mixed feelings. I went to Kelly Mehler’s school in October and built an “h” (can’t spell it) workbench. I have trepidation about punching a bunch of holes into it. Although the utility will definitely be increased, the darn top and base is so beautiful that I really don’t want to distract from it.

I just had the traumatic experience of putting in the dog holes! … But it still looks nice.

BTW, the “course” was great and we even had a visit from Chris Schwarz.

Best wishes for a happy new year. Keep up the good work!

–Steve.

I think my bench is probably about 175-200 pounds with another 100 pounds or so of gear on the lower shelf. I have high friction tape (Lee Valley) on the feet which sit on a varnished wood floor. A piece of router mat – the thin tan kind – also works well. This bench is extremely stable with this method.

I like the Veritas low angle smoother. The option to easily transfer blades with different sharpening angles is very handy. The best aspect is its nice low center of gravity. The Norris type adjuster is also very good. I don’t like the shape of Veritas’ plane handles and consider this the biggest drawback of their planes. I would consider also the Lie-Nielsen if you are interested in a low angle smoother. It is a bit smaller and narrower which I like in a smoother – more like a #4. The Veritas LAS feels more like a #4 1/2.

Thanks for reading.

Rob

I agree with Mark Mazzo, you’ve developed a very comprehensive holding system. I’d like to suggest another bench accessory. I use a lightweight bench (1.5″ plywood top). Heavy planing moves the bench. You can use a scrap of wood to stop a bench from moving exactly the same way you use it to keep wood from moving on the bench. It requires drilling a holes in your floor but it saves someone like me from having to build a 300 pound Roubo.

How do you like the Veritas low angle smoother. It seems to have a little more room for a large hand than the Lie-Neilsen.

Thank you.

Regarding how thin the scrap piece can be, the factors are: about 3/8″ of threaded depth in the Anchors, the length of the flat head bold, the Anchors are about 1 1/2″ long, and the depth to which they can be sunk below the bench surface will vary with the thickness of the bench top.

Practically, since you can always find or cut a short enough bolt, I think the limiting factor for thin scrap wood will be how well the flat head bolt will engage a countersunk hole in thin wood.

I like to use a separate MDF planing board with a very low fence on its front for working thin stock. I dog the board on the workbench.

Rob

Good post. I like the system you’ve devised. I already have round dog holes in my bench so it would work well for me as well.

Just curious, how thin of a scrap piece can be used with the anchors and the flat-head anchor screws? It would be nice if pieces say 1/8″ or a bit thinner could be used to the help with planing thin stock.

–Mark
The Craftsman’s Path